Remove Kyoko
by Discoabc
Summary: Put in all the ingredients from 'Kyoko', mix well with the canon and remove the redhead herself. Side story to 'Kyoko' where groups and characters important (or not) to the fanfic have their roles in the 'canon' explained.
1. Bovino: Regret

**So I mentioned the idea of creating a side story sort of thing that explains what happened to characters/families/etc. in the canon of KHR and I got an overwhelming response of people saying that they'd love to read it. **

**If you haven't read 'Kyoko' then I guess about half of this would make sense. If you then decided to read it well you would have read a heck of a lot of spoilers. And that would ruin the fun of reading a plot twist-y fic so I'd advise against reading this first.**

**This chapter was meant to be about the Bovino in general but it turned more into a thing about Settimo urgh sorry if it isn't as good as you expected it to be :(**

* * *

_If it's the Bovino famiglia, they're a rather small Mafia group. I don't associate with those who rank lower._

Reborn, despite his overwhelming arrogance towards any group that he deemed of lesser power than those few families he was affiliated with, did not understate the strength of the family to Tsuna when he first spoke of the Bovino famiglia.

The Bovino famiglia was notorious for such a trait. They were the weakling family. The small ants beneath the feet of almost every other Mafia family within the alliance, who were in turn the ants beneath the soles of the Vongola famiglia who stood atop them all, preaching of kindness and justice whilst squashing them all into the ground.

Many young mafioso as a result found it strange that their name was so well known (this of course being before the rise of Bovino Lambo who made all preconceptions about the Bovino famiglia being weak disappear practically overnight). After all, the Mafia believed strongly in the whole 'food chain' hierarchy system and _lions do not pay any heed to the matters of sheep._

Oh but the Bovino were not simple sheep, they were the bulls that'd had their horns broken off, once powerful enough to face off with those lions that prowled around at the top. People still whispered of Bovino Primo, the infamous illusionist titled 'Corna del Diavolo' even before his battle with the third generation Vongola mist guardian-a fight he'd won by a _staggering _amount. Their powerful fireman arsenal also still existed to this very day; not that it was a threat to anyone since they did not have enough members to fully utilise it and they were all too stubborn to sell any of it in exchange for real power. And they owned one of the six rare hell rings, Coro del Diavolo, which had been passed down to each mist guardian since the very first Bovino generation. Although that fact was often glossed over too since the mist guardians to the Bovino famiglia often committed suicide or went insane-some whispered of the Bovino harbouring some genetic disease whilst others saw the connection between the guardians and the hell ring.

In any case, what the Bovino lacked in power, they made up for in the illustrious history and so, even if they were mocked as feeble _cows_, many Mafia families would secretly check up on them every now and then just in case they regained their horns.

However, no one paid any particular attention to the fallen bulls when they were approached by a yakuza family that was only now starting to get attention. It was in the crossover period between the sixth and seventh generation of the Bovino that the yakuza boss arrived with an easy smile and dangerous eyes. He brought his family, his _blood _family as a symbol of trust and lack of hostility-a sly move, even more cunning if one considered that fact that his wife was not unfamiliar to having a weapon in her hands and his son was positively _bloodthirsty, _threatening everyone wherever he went. The yakuza boss made a request for an alliance, calling for the new Bovino Settimo to accept his offer. His yakuza family did not have that much power really but he made it sound so good a deal and, though unspoken, offered to return the Bovino to the former glory. And-

And it would have been so _easy _to accept, especially since Bovino Settimo had the sort of drive and greed that had belonged to Bovino Primo, albeit slightly diluted because of how the family he was inheriting was at the bottom and living up to the standards of the first boss seemed practically _impossible. _Bovino Settimo wanted to believe his promises and believe that's the alliance would benefit both parties greatly. To laugh in the faces of those who called them _cows _and become strong once more.

But what the yakuza boss was offering wasn't quite enough for him to seal the deal and become allied with his family.

The yakuza boss hadn't grown angry at the refusal, hadn't tried harder to get him to agree. If the bulls did not want to regain their horns then they'd only be mere cattle he'd have to spend his entire time protecting from the world instead of making his bid for the top of the food chain.

Bovino Settimo regretted the choice for years to come.

He despaired over how his family's power was slowly dwindling whilst his greed seemed to only grow in size. The pain only got worse when he heard of the yakuza family's name in tandem with 'growing power' and all the 'what if's' flooded his mind, making him almost as nearly depressed as his mist guardian-a mediocre illusionist who depended almost solely on the hell ring to give him strength and had memories stolen from him every time he did. Settimo's sharp mind and tongue that he'd been blessed with upon birth dulled.

It was around five years on from the meeting with the yakuza boss that Bovino Lambo was born. He was clearly born with the same type of ambition as many Bovino members had inherited from their first boss with how he screamed and shrieked about becoming the next Bovino boss. Oh but underneath those dark curls of his lay a quick and fiercely intelligent mind, covered up by childish arrogance and screeches that Settimo had managed to see through.

When weaponry was first made available to him (the Bovino had so few members they needed to start training from extremely young ages) he took to it like a duck to water. It was undeniable that Lambo was a prodigy and, considering how his parents were high up in the family because of their lineage, it was almost guaranteed he'd become the next boss.

But it was Lambo's greed and arrogance that ended up making it impossible, the toddler shrieking his ambitions aloud to a crowd of mafioso, who were incredibly unamused when, upon being ridiculed, Lambo had thrown a grenade at not one but _three _bosses. He might have been just a child but in this Mafia world where the arcobaleno existed, you could be held accountable for anything from the day you first held a gun in your own hands.

Settimo didn't have an entirely black heart. Even if he had allowed for Lambo to have a gun pressed into his hands at the mere age of three, the boy was family in both senses of the word and, when his blood was being called for, he felt honest panic for the child. However, despite his efforts, the deal that was cast was so horribly tipped out of Lambo's favour.

_If he kills the first class hitman Reborn, we will forget everything._

It was practically an execution they wanted but Settimo had to agree-either that or they lost everything and, as much as he cared for Lambo, he was not willing to give it all up. So they handed Lambo some of the best weaponry they had, even the new, untested 'ten-year-later bazooka' (a result of their contemplated bid for power through insane weaponry) and sent him on his way, pretending that it wasn't towards his death.

Word came back a couple of weeks later that word came back that Lambo was safe and that Reborn was showing mercy-mercy enough even that he sent craftily written letters to those wanting Lambo dead with subtle threats of pain and death the next time they targeted a child who was not an arcobaleno.

Then, a little more than a year on, word came back that Lambo was to be a prospective lightning guardian for the Vongola. And Settimo had cried tears of joy because the regret of not becoming allied with the yakuza family disappeared as one of their own was to become a guardian to the most powerful Mafia family in the world, his greed finally starting to be sated.

Their power grew in time with Lambo's age and the Bovino famiglia's weak status officially disappeared ten years on when the boy single handedly stopped an assassination attempt on the newly crowned Vongola Decimo. And their new status of being strong was only reaffirmed by Settimo's storm guardian with her fierce green eyes and deadly strength. _The bulls have regained their horns, _people whispered and Settimo had puffed his chest out with pride as he sharpened his mind yet again by being surrounded by the lions of the Mafia.

Regret only hit him again when he caught a glimpse of the yakuza boss he'd refused so many years ago stood beside his son, another guardian on the tenth generation Vongola family and heralded as the _strongest_ no less, and the illusionist who was considered to be the best in the world at what they did. Although the regret didn't hit him because of the power of those he was allied with.

It hit him because the man wouldn't have looked the slightest bit weaker even with the two gone from his side. He radiated power in every move he made, grey eyes glinting dangerously and smirk stretched across his lips as if to say 'I could kill anyone in this room and get away with it'. Even Vongola Decimo seemed to acknowledge this almost natural seeming strength and stood a little closer to his wife, tensed his muscles a little more.

Settimo was never considered the powerful one. Lambo was the powerful one of the family, the one that had dragged the Bovino from the bottom and up to the very top. He'd achieved everything the past Bovino bosses had wanted without even being the boss himself.

And the man found himself wishing that, when the yakuza boss has requested his alliance with a smile that promised him, not just his family but _him, _the world, he'd have taken his hand and shook it.

.

.

.

.

.

_If you think you'll regret something in the morning, sleep until noon._

**So details about this chapter you may or may not be interested in...**

**Deal or no deal:**** (I've already been over this briefly in my fic but I'll say it again cuz it happened many, many chapters ago) The Bovino accepted the deal with Itsuki in 'Kyoko' because Kyoko was used as a bargaining chip and she already had a high profile in the Mafia world as M.G. so Settimo had more confidence in the alliance. In the 'canon' however, there was no M.G. so as a result Settimo didn't become allied with Itsuki.**

**Power changes people:**** Settimo in 'Kyoko'-a manipulative bastard heavily influenced by Itsuki, much more willing to do horrible things to his family in order to increase his power (remember what happened to Lambo?) and will take risks. **

**Settimo in 'canon'-less manipulative (not Itsuki around to influence him), somewhat more caring of his family and wants to increase his power but doesn't want to take many risks.**

**Memory isn't what is used to be:**_**"Maybe I should take away your memories?" His hand suddenly went to my head, lips stretched into a grin. "Forgetting everyone you know and even yourself eventually. That would be quite a sight to see."-**_** Bovino Primo, chapter 29 where he is considering Kyoko's payment for use of the hell ring. This time round he used that as payment because he got no Schwarz to tell him that they won't make a deal if he asks for that.**

**Storm guardian: ****Mirabella is cool in any universe fullstop.**

* * *

**Any suggestions of which character/group to do next are more than welcome, although I can't do the following characters/groups because there is still information about them needing to be revealed:**

**Kyoko, Itsuki, Alouette, Schwarz, Momokyokai just in general, Hibari, L'Ordre Dionysus and anyone who hasn't been introduced yet in 'Kyoko' (like the Shimon and Millefiore).**

**Anyone else is fine...I think...**


	2. Lu soon: Love

Yun Lu soon is smart.

He finds this out at an extremely early age, _knows _he is at an extremely early age. He learns to walk quickly, learns to talk soon after and, hungry to know more, he starts to read a little too.

Nearing one and a half years, his parents flash proud grins at him and subtly boast about their brilliant child, and he is smug because, even if it is an accepted occurrence in this world, he is still somewhat a rarity. He is also very suddenly whisked away to Japan and dumped in a place where he does not know the language or the culture.

Almost as if to compensate, his parents start taking turns with their neighbours as to who will take care of their similarly aged children so that he can learn things through interaction. For months, Lu soon practically pays no heed to his playmate half out of arrogance and half out of embarrassment at his lack of ability to communicate with the boy. He picks up more from the boy's air headed parents who use words he can understand are _wrong_ but appealing all the same to his curious mind. So it takes him until two years of age to realize the truth about his playmate.

Koenig Ryuga is a true genius.

He is the son of two academics: Koenig Tanaka, who is deeply rooted in the sciences, and Koenig Saki, who has literature as her passion. Both are smart, _intensely_ smart, and their little boy inherits both their scientific and literate minds. He learns Korean faster than Lu soon learns Japanese (it's humiliating that Lu soon doesn't notice this until they're knee deep in a conversation), starts to read fluently quicker than Lu soon can, is more knowledgeable than he can comprehend.

Yes, Lu soon is smart, but Ryuga is above him, dancing on a higher plane with his red-rimmed glasses perched on his nose and head buzzing with intelligence. It's even more of a hard fall from cloud nine when the Korean picks up on the blonde trying to act sillier than he is as a comfort. His whole stupid act isn't entirely real and it's all for the sake of his idiot playmate who believed he stood on top of the world.

Yun Lu soon is humbled at a very young age.

It is then he starts his secret studying. He forces himself to become better, to stand upon the same ground as his playmate turned friend turned unknowing role model. If Ryuga is a natural genius then Lu soon is a worked at genius who can't quite beat the raw talent but will damn well try.

Aged three, they both start kindergarten. Their crazy teacher groups them with two girls, one with long dark hair and the other with shortish blonde hair. The former is mature, someone Lu soon can see himself getting along with, but the latter is naive, young, bubbly and oblivious. He doesn't hate her, it's honestly rather hard to hate the girl because she means _so_ well and he can see Ryuga's image in her kindness, but she's not like them all. Kurokawa Hana borders on the line of genius but Sasagawa Kyoko is ordinary.

Hana adores her however. Lu soon finds out that her mother left her and her father when she was just a little girl and, whilst Kyoko is not smart, she is soft and gentle and brushes away her friend's sadness with the comfort her vanished mother hadn't provided. She is a treasure and Lu soon respects this, but it is as a result that Hana and him do not ever kindle a meaningful friendship.

Anyway, the two girls move groups all of a sudden a little while later-Kyoko's brother gets injured apparently by these older boys and she is terrified of the other sex for years. It does not help that he and Ryuga are so smart that they can give off the air of being older and the girl is so quiet in her suffering, not wanting to hurt their feelings with her terror, that he feels her relief when she switches to an all girls' group. They do not socialize at all after this.

A few years later and the two neighbours, two close knitted friends, are in elementary school. Ryuga's bordering on obsessive tendencies come to life there, or are at least put under the spotlight.

Ryuga's parents are good people. They are passionate about their work-it brings them to life when they talk about it-and they are hardworking and they feel so much _pride_ for their son. But Ryuga's parents aren't good _parents_.

Their passions mean that they have tunnelled visions with only their love for their work being in it most of the time. Their hardworking attitudes mean that when they are home they are not relaxing with their family, they are on their laptops or writing in their study. Their pride for their son means that they feel he is mentally old enough at least to not need any babying or huge displays of love.

Ryuga is locked out of their small worlds. He can see into them, get a few waves from the people inside them, but he is not a part of these worlds. And he gets why he has been locked out, understands why his parents are good people and is happy they are happy, however, understanding why and wanting it are two separate things.

His parents are happy though so he says nothing. Lu soon says nothing either.

Instead, Ryuga begins to work harder. He starts working on more ambitious scientific projects, starts writing stories with more complex words. Every now and then, he offers them to his parents with hopeful smiles hidden behind his newest creations and his parents are proud, they are always so proud of their darling boy and their hearts swell. Then, they go back to their work.

Lu soon starts bringing him sweets and snacks to gorge on during the day.

So Ryuga tries harder. Everything he does becomes grander and more impressive by the passing day and his teacher's are in awe, Lu soon's parents are flabbergasted and Ryuga's parents are proud. They are then called in to go to work and do a new incredible thing of their own, leaving Ryuga at home because he's a big boy now who is responsible enough to make decisions alone.

Lu soon makes him stay over at his that night and they stay up till midnight, throwing pillows, playing games and lying awake with their bodies almost touching.

Time blurs and suddenly Ryuga's asking Lu soon what middle school he's going to. Lu soon doesn't answer until the blonde tells him he's going to Midori Boys'. The Korean begs his parents to go there instead of Shimon middle school and they eventually accept. Both boys get a perfect score on their entrance papers and are both asked to give a speech when they do enter the school. Lu soon's parents are absolutely delighted and Ryuga's parents are proud (but Saki then flies off to Germany for a conference and Tanaka has to help a student).

Lu soon asks his parents to make another cake for Ryuga for what was initially just his congratulatory party in getting into such a top end school.

Midori is a trophy school. Every student is there to win them prizes and improve their reputation. Their trophy cabinet shines and there are rumours that the metals inside are polished everyday without fail. Within a year, Lu soon has his name on about a fifth of them all with Ryuga with his name on a third. The ever constant pride is followed by a look at the awards his parents have won, all far more accomplished than trophies awarded for mere middle school science and literature contests.

Lu soon starts coming over at regular periods and reminding Ryuga that the strange feeling in his stomach is deep hunger and that light headed feeling is lack of sleep and the pain in his hand is from gripping a pen too tight.

Ryuga asks his closest friend, the person who he has the closest bond with, what high school he's going to. There are no pretences this time and the golden eyed boy replies 'where you're going, idiot'. It ends up being another trophy school and Lu soon hates it, detests the suffocating pressure that makes him want to scream and swear at his teachers, but Ryuga doesn't even take the slightest notice, too preoccupied with his parents being proud of his choice and then rushing off to answer important calls.

Lu soon mouths off about Tanaka and Saki for the first time and the blonde chokes on his laughter, yet sees that the Korean is not doing it just for comic effect.

The final straw is when Ryuga chooses another image obsessed place to go to university. Lu soon shouts at him and tells him straight out that his parents will recognize his achievements but won't recognize their son's struggle to get their attention for just a few goddamn minutes. That this is all for nothing, not him, not his parents, _nothing, _and the shock makes the blonde flunk a small unimportant test. For the first time, Saki and Tanaka look at their son with eyes of concern and don't rush off to do something else related to their passion.

"All these years and the only thing I'd needed to do was fail." Ryuga says after rejecting the offer to talk to his parents, lying on Lu soon's bed as the boy sits on the floor. "Although I think I wouldn't have even done it on purpose if I'd known. Constant pride is better than disappointment."

That very next day, the blonde asks Lu soon if he'll go to a university in Italy with him. By then, Lu soon's parents just roll their eyes with smiles and say that he might as well finish the job and follow on his friend's heels. He likes to think of it instead as him cleaning up the idiot's mess and making sure he doesn't die early. Ryuga drops literature and focuses on science because that's what he's really wanted to do this entire time and the new country, the distance between his parents and himself, is liberating for him. Lu soon does psychology, which makes the blonde call him his personal therapist. He gets a swat over the head with a book for that, not the answer that Lu soon is so finely attuned to his hidden emotions that he understands the more open thought patterns of other people so easily now.

They're only a few years in and Ryuga gets an invitation to a secret club of scientists. A few months later and instead of being in a lecture hall, Lu soon is holding a gun and running down alleyways, swearing in every language he knows and blaming Ryuga for everything. The scientists the blonde was working with are dead and it's all very quickly turning into a horrific nightmare, although both feel more alive than they were ever before. They hide out in brothels, get drunk in low class bars and avoid the Millefiore like the damn plague.

Yes, they're scared, but it's hard to dwell on it too much when you're avoiding the heavy lead flying towards your heart and adrenaline makes your nerves sing. It's breathless and dangerous and _exciting_ and Ryuga feels like it is the biggest 'fuck you' he's ever given his parents who expected such different things.

The reign of terror then ends and they're formally invited to a banquet thrown by the Vongola. They're basking in the defeat of their enemy and Vongola Decimo makes an appearance with his startlingly familiar wife with blonde hair and kind smiles. Lu soon and Ryuga learn then that Sasagawa Kyoko grows up to no longer cower in the presence of males but instead lash out when she is treated like an object to be used like she was when those boys had forced Ryohei out to face them. She goes to fight Mochida Kensuke when he calls her a prize, slaps a boy when she is seventeen for wanting to 'bang the hottest girl around to get everyone jealous', is discreetly subdued when another mafia family claims her husband uses her to seduce possible allies. The woman is still kind but she is also not entirely helpless.

Briefly, Lu soon entertains the idea of a world where Kyoko had been smarter to begin with and still just as kind. He imagines that Ryuga's obsessive tendencies wouldn't have gotten so bad as she would've pulled him out of that vicious cycle of work, work, work. He imagines them having been happier from an earlier age.

Ryuga asks him later what he wants to do now. His whole life so far has been spent rushing after this boy who has physically turned into an adult but is still his silly little playmate that learnt Korean as so to talk with his arrogant toddler self. He finds no fault in the idea of continuing this mission of his so he claps Ryuga on the back and truthfully answers 'I want to do what you want to do, stupid'.

That ends up being all the validation for his existence that Ryuga ever needs.

.

.

.

.

.

_Everyday I fall in love with you more and more. Except yesterday, yesterday you were pretty fucking annoying._

**Details about chapter **

**Ryuga's parents: ****They are exactly the same in 'Kyoko' but I have never gone into much detail about them so this is what they're like. In 'Kyoko' they just didn't have as much as an effect on their son because he had a wider circle of friends who validated him and were also quite pushy about pleasing others not being something you should work towards. Eg. Kyoko hating Midori and being incredibly vocal about not wanting to go there (Ryuga still goes to Midori boys but it wasn't to please his parents entirely so he is happier there).**

_**Maybe an interesting note**_**-One of my parents is an academic (their partner now is also an academic). So a lot of how Ryuga's parents are is inspired by that and Ryuga's reaction of understanding their loyalty to work because they're happy doing their work. Ryuga's experience of it is a little more intense than it is for me but there is a lot of pressure to do well (more really just expectancy of it like it's obvious that should happen) and the feeling of having your own achievements being a little glossed over as a result. I'm terrible at putting it all into words ugh.**

**I will follow you to the end: ****Lu soon is very clingy to Ryuga in this because of the fact that they only really have each other as close friends. Kyoko and Hana do actually make Ryuga more confident and give Lulu some assurance that he can handle being on his own sometimes. Without their influence, Ryuga is more self contained and it makes Lulu stress out.**

**Obsessive tendencies:**** Kyoko and Hana stop that quite effectively. They spend so much time as friends just hanging out that Ryuga doesn't fill his time with work-although they do shine through a little when he does things for the Bovino. **

**Love?****: I was trying to show more in this thing that Ryuga and Lu soon have a more complex relationship than just childhood friends that act like a silly married couple. So yes, the somewhat jokey shipping of them **_**does**_** have depth behind it. If I'd made this longer I might've showed some more developing feelings but I don't want to go into the details of their whole life right now at least. Maybe more fluffy extras in the main fic though. Maybe.**

**Kyoko no object of yours****: If you did not read the manga, you would not know that in the first chapter Kyoko literally has to be held back when Mochida calls her a 'prize'. That girl was ready to fight. (Now if only she was more ready for that throughout the series ._.)**

* * *

**YO YOU ALL WERE ASKING FOR THIS AND I GAVE IT YOU I DO GOOD JOB YES.**


	3. Hana: Strength

Kurokawa Hana's earliest vivid memory of her mother leaving her and her father.

She remembers stretching out her chubby toddler fingers and grasping at the woman's skirt, screaming and crying and begging her not to go. Breath rich with the stench of alcohol hits her as her mother tells her to let go of her skirt and the adult's waving of her hands knocks into a table. The vase atop it goes hurtling down behind Hana and it smashes, a broken shard flying upwards and slicing the back of the toddler's neck. It leaves a small scar that she hides with her hair as it grows out.

Surprisingly, Hana can't remember how painful it was. She remembers more the sound of the front door slamming, the sea of jagged pottery that prevents her from moving and her father running towards her instead of his disappearing wife.

Hana grows up fast.

She forces herself to mature, to act on her intelligence rather than push it away and go play with dolls. After all, she is one of the rare highly clever children-although Kurokawa Hana is not quite a genius. She lies on the level just below it, not that she cares as she's too busy trying to be of help to her kindhearted father to indulge in her intelligence.

It is at this young age she becomes obsessed with young adult novels. She becomes absorbed by cliched romance over cliched romance, losing herself in a world where love won't just disappear and marriages won't fall apart. Little Hana does not dwell on the idea that she has lost faith in the existence of true love in all but the form of fiction, nor that she no longer throws out affection to her father that easily. 'Tough love' is what she calls it, but her father isn't offended and smiles endearingly at his daughter.

A year later and Hana goes to kindergarten for the first time. A lot of people are with both of their parents and it makes her scowl as her heart twists in uncomfortable ways.

Then, she meets Sasagawa Kyoko.

Kyoko is kind. Oh _far_ too kind. She doesn't seem phased by Hana's 'tough love' or comments that are beyond her level of understanding. Instead she smiles and takes her by the hand and asks if she'll be her first best friend.

It's almost bewildering how easily Kyoko pulls Hana into her orbit and one minute they're introducing themselves for the first time, the next the small blonde is combing her fingers through Hana's hair softly and talking about how they feel about fairy tale princesses. There's no expectation in Kyoko's gentle voice or irritation when Hana criticises the princesses for mainly being damsels in distress even though the honey eyed girl only understands half the words she's using. She's so _safe _and Hana wonders whether this is what having a mother feels like. One that is present and not always out because of their unhappy marriage.

Later, their teacher Matsuki puts them both in a group with these two boys, one with golden eyes and the other with red rimmed glasses. They're smart, so, _so_ smart, and this friendship is what Hana had thought she'd wanted. It was the sort that was grinning and teenage-like with witty insults thrown around and it'd be so easy for her to slip in there.

But it is not the friendship that Kyoko desires.

The two boys don't dislike the blonde girl, honestly, it's so hard to dislike Kyoko when all she ever is to anyone is heartbreakingly _kind, _but she is not like them. She is too slow to get their jokes, too soft to ever throw even the tiniest insult at anyone, too patient to cut into their conversations.

So Hana lets the friendship slip through her fingers in order to have Kyoko hug her comfortingly when she finally confesses to her parents separation, to pull her back into the childhood she'd wanted to throw away.

A few months later, Hana sees Kyoko going with some older boys after kindergarten. At first, she says nothing, but when Hatsumi, Kyoko's mother, calls up her father to ask if he's seen her daughter or son, Hana feels her stomach drop.

The next day, Ryohei is in hospital and Kyoko is absolutely terrified of anyone with the opposite sex to her excluding that of her family. Her terror is especially excruciating because it is silent. She doesn't want people to be offended by her fear of them so she says nothing, not even when she's about to cry, and by the third day enough is enough and Hana demands to Matsuki that they move groups.

Yun Lu soon and Koenig Ryuga are hardly offended, they had noticed Kyoko's discomfort the day she came back, but Hana can see that they are somewhat disappointed that they never got to have a friendship with her like she had wanted also.

However, she pretends not to care because if it makes Kyoko happy then that's all that matters.

Time flows on and they're four, five, six, seven, eight. Hana receives a card from her mother each year on special occasions and at one point Kyoko buys her a beautiful necklace with a green, oval jewel, the chain covering up her small scar. The blonde listens without judgement as her dark haired friend tells her that her mother is cruel and she hates her. Hates her, hates her, _hates her_.

Nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen. Both of them go to Namimori Middle School together. It's there that suddenly Hana realises that Kyoko has grown up pretty with long lashes and a heart shaped face, smiles bright and warm. She's the centre of attention, the school idol, and everyone starts to crowd her. Hana bats them away because she knows Kyoko won't (_too kind, too soft, too nice_) and shoots glares at people who are thinking about rushing the poor girl.

It is during this time that Hana first notices the shy glances of a one _Sawada Tsunayoshi _and she narrows her eyes as if to say 'don't even try it'.

A few months later and Mochida finally tries to hit on Kyoko. Hana lets him because she thinks the boy meets her standards for her best friend: somewhat intelligent, fairly good looking, older and therefore in her mind mature, and above all confident enough for the mild mannered girl. The dark haired girl can't help but liken him to the heroes in her array of young adult fiction and Kyoko dating such a boy puts her mind at ease.

Then Tsuna comes running in with only his boxers on and yells for Kyoko to go out with her.

Hana's angry, furious even, and she can't help but feel vindictive glee that Mochida planned to make an example of the _idiot _who dared make her precious friend run away screaming. _He deserves it_, she thinks, _how could he possibly think that he was good enough for Kyoko to even ask her out?_

She stands at the front of the crowd who has come to witness the main target for bullies have his ass kicked astronomically, Kyoko of course by her side, and-

_Mochida messes up._

Kind, pretty Kyoko lets her lips slip into an outraged snarl and she lunges for Mochida who is by this point well and truly dead to Hana. He's a jerk, a certified _asshole_, and she holds Kyoko back only to stop herself from socking him right in the face. She's mortified also as even Tsuna, who had committed a crime she considered almost unforgivable, was placed higher than the boy she'd thought deserved Kyoko.

Tsuna rushes in next and well, the impossible unfolds and he _crushes _Mochida. Hana watches with wide eyes, not believing quite what she is seeing, and her awe allows Kyoko to slip out of her grip and rush towards the brunet, stars in her honey-coloured eyes. Her admirer is a complete mess, stuttering and blushing and looking at the school idol as though he's unworthy to be in her presence and _of course_ Kyoko forgives him for what happened earlier. A blush of her own rises in Hana's cheeks and she glances away, still embarrassed with her conduct and the realization that controlling who her friend dated was an awful idea from the start.

Following that incident though, everything changes.

An attractive transfer student starts following the_ no-good_ boy and then a popular baseball jock is drawn to his side too and, before anyone can even comprehend what's happening, a whole crowd has gotten caught in Tsuna's orbit. Hell, even _Hibari Kyoya_ seems part of this gang of people and Hana can't help but gape (there's that mature boy too that appears every now and then of which she can't help but swoon a little over).

Kyoko's pulled in too. She makes friends with this girl named Haru, who is slightly too enthusiastic for Hana's tastes but charming all the same, and another one called Chrome, who is painfully shy but _painfully_ kind too. Of course, Hana is still the one that Kyoko thinks of as her closest friends, however, the dark haired girl feels the sting when she realizes there is a secret she's being left out of.

Fourteen, fifteen, sixteen. Kyoko's hair grows out more and Tsuna's body starts to fill out. He's no longer an awkwardly built teenager and Hana almost falls over the first time she realizes he's got actual _muscles_. They all go to the same high school, Hibari of course controlling it from the day he joins, and Hana feels herself settling in for another three years of the same ridiculous antics.

Everything changes suddenly again.

Kyoko comes back from a holiday and something has shifted entirely-her smiles cover up this aching wound in her mind that Hana, who has always thought herself as the blonde's rock, can't heal. Pretty, happy Kyoko is transformed into someone different and her best friend doesn't know what has happened. But she is silent for whenever Kyoko is hurt she is _silent _and suffers alone. Hana prods at the scarred tissues, begs for the secret to her closest friend's agony to be revealed, and eventually gives up with tears in her eyes. _She'll do this alone, _she thinks.

Only Kyoko doesn't do this alone.

Kyoko's orbit that had pulled Hana in so effortlessly all those years ago is altered by another that is stronger. These two stars, two _suns_ that used to just pass each other innocently begin to circle one another in a sort of blinding dance. And Hana, who had only ever been a small, insignificant planet, is helpless to interfere, only able to watch with wide eyes at how Tsuna and Kyoko talk alone in hushed tones.

Even though she doesn't hear what they say, Hana knows that the two share secrets no one else has heard. The secret to Kyoko's pain, the secret to Tsuna's understanding of her agony, the secret to why their whispers dance together.

Hana is there when the two stars collide, accidentally viewing the moment when Tsuna presses his lips to the girl who had never told her best friend that she'd even fallen for this boy.

Someone else is there too however and pulls Hana backwards into a hug when she begins to cry, covers her eyes when the sight is too much and reminds her that this isn't betrayal on Kyoko's behalf, this is just a confusing set of emotions the blonde doesn't know how to convey to the girl who had always been by her side.

It takes approximately three weeks of comforting words and laughter and their own secrets for Kurokawa Hana to fall in love with Sasagawa Ryohei. It take a further year and a half for her to admit it to herself.

(It takes no time at all for him to fall in love with her however-Ryohei's always been fond of Hana. At first for taking good care of his sister and then later for just being so _strong _despite being so weak. He may have fought wars with terrible odds but the idea of continuing on with part of his family gone _hurts _him more than any physical wound. But Hana continues on with this gaping wound that seems to keep ripping wider and wider open without a falter in her step. It is difficult for Ryohei, who has always valued strength so highly, to not love her.)

.

.

.

.

.

_Lord, give me patience...because if you give me strength, I'll need bail money to go with it._

**Notes**

**Scar on the back of the neck:** A long time ago, when Kyoko first made an illusion of Hana, Hana told her about the scar on the back of her neck that was caused by her mother walking out of the house drunk. She never went into detail about it and Kyoko never asked.

"**I hate her": ** In 'Kyoko', Hana never hates her mother. Instead she comes to a point of indifference about her mother's scarce communication with her and existence. This is mainly because Kyoko subconsciously influences Hana to 'man-up' about the whole situation and not dwell on it too much. Canon!Kyoko however let's Hana think about it more and come to terms with it, which should call for a more healthy response but doesn't really end up that way.

**Secrets: **In my fic, Kyoko tells Hana almost all of her secrets. Canon!Kyoko however does not. Who's to say Hana was happier about this in either situation?

**Twilight fanatic: **True love almost always prevails in YA books, Hana found, so she read them constantly. There's a reason why Hana, who you'd suspect would like more literary classics, loves Twilight so much.

**Green necklace: **Hana wears a green necklace in the canon. Kyoko is given the necklace by a fortune teller to give to her friend. Canon!Kyoko seeks it out herself.

* * *

**I think Hana's personality had less obvious changes in 'Kyoko' (mainly because her character wasn't focused on that much) so this chapter really didn't need any 'Kyoko' knowledge I guess haha.**

**I always found the idea of HanaxRyohei cute in the canon. They're both really caring and I can imagine Ryohei basically being a huge puppy around her, which she'd find probably both embarrassing and adorable.**

**Now, who to do next?**


End file.
